Cramer Quick Take: Retail Winners and Losers

Not all retail is created equal. Jim Cramer says avoid Vera, Francesca's and Ascena, but Conn's and Costco look like winners.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Any bargains in the retail sector? TheStreet's Jim Cramer and Debra Borchardt discussed some of the recent pops and drops in the retail group.

Vera Bradley ( VRA) and Francesca's ( FRAN) were two names that really disappointed investors late Wednesday after their dismal earnings reports.

Borchardt pointed out that Vera seemed too focused on fashion, which can momentarily flourish but ultimately fails. With a departing CEO, the scene has gotten ugly for the company.

Francesca's biggest problem came from expanding the number of its stores too fast while not necessarily having growth within the stores.

Ascena Retail ( ASNA) was another disappointing company after its third-quarter results. Cramer thought that the numbers would have to be near perfect for this stock to have a chance, and they were far from it.

"I don't think this stock is done going down," Cramer added.

But there were some retailers who came out with some positive numbers. Conn's ( CONN) has shown incredible strength, which can most likely be attributed to the strong housing recovery. The home appliance retailer could continue to see strong growth if the recovery stays intact, he said.

Costco ( COST), a holding of the Action Alerts Plus charitable trust Cramer co-manages, was another strong name. As Cramer pointed out, when you subtract foreign exchange and gasoline you get a much clearer picture on how the company is actually performing.

In relation to Costco, he concluded, "This was a better-than-expected quarter and there are not many retailers that are doing better than expected."

Bret Kenwell currently writes, blogs and also contributes to Rocco Pendola's Weekly Options Newsletter. Focuses on short- to intermediate-term trading opportunities that can be exposed via options. He prefers to use debit trades on momentum setups and credit trades on support/resistance setups. He also focuses on building long-term wealth by searching for consistent, quality dividend paying companies and long-term growth companies. He considers himself the surfer, not the wave, in relation to the market and himself. He has no allegiance to either the bull side or the bear side.